Old unrelated photos shared as visuals of PM Modi’s recent election rally in West Bengal - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 8, 2021
A few photos are being shared on social media with a claim that they show the crowd at PM Narendra Modi’s recent election rally in West Bengal. On 7 March 2021, Narendra Modi addressed an election rally at the Brigade parade grounds in the poll-bound West Bengal. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photos show the crowd at Modi’s recent (March 2021) election rally in West Bengal.
Fact: The posted photos are not related to Modi’s recent election rally in West Bengal. While one photo is related to the recent joint rally of Left-Congress-ISF, the other two photos are old. One was taken in 2019 and the other was taken in 2014. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Photo 1: (archived)
When the posted image was run through Google Reverse Image Search, the same photo was found in the search results. It was posted on a website in 2014 with the description – ‘Picture of Rally in Brigade Parade Ground, at Kolkata’. So, when we searched with relevant keywords, a similar photo was found on the ‘Prokerala’ website. The description of the photo reads – ‘People gather at the Brigade Parade Ground during a Left Front rally in Kolkata on Feb.9, 2014. (Photo: Kuntal Chakrabarty/IANS)’. So, it is an old photo.
Photo 2: (archived)
The reverse image search of the posted photo led us to a 2019 news article that published the same image. As per the article, the image shows a large public gathering for a meeting organised by the Left front at the Brigade parade ground in Kolkata. The photo was also tweeted by ‘CPI (M) West Bengal’ in 2020 with the description – ‘A bird eye view of last year Brigade Rally at #Kolkata’.
“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep Spring from coming.”
A bird eye view of last year Birgade Rally at #Kolkata #LalSalaamComrade pic.twitter.com/EmuvpqaiXI
A similar photo can be also found on the ‘Alamy’ stock website.
Photo 3: (archived)
A similar photo can be found on the websites of ‘The Telegraph’ and ‘India Today’. The description of the photo reads – ‘Hundreds of supporters join Left-Congress and Indian Secular Front (ISF) mega rally at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata ahead of the West Bengal Election 2021.’ So, this photo is also not related to Modi’s rally.
Photos 1 and 2 were also shared last week as the visuals showing the recent joint rally of INC and CPIM in Kolkata. FACTLY has previously written a fact-check article debunking photo-2 when it was shared in the wrong context.
The actual visuals related to Modi’s recent election rally in West Bengal can be seen here, here, and here.
জনসমুদ্র ব্রিগেড ……#ModirSatheBrigade pic.twitter.com/BCEedYcNZ1
To sum it up, old unrelated photos are shared as visuals of Modi’s recent election rally in West Bengal.